Watermark condo in Sechelt, B.C. offers easy pace with ocean views

Cindy Stephen, For the Calgary Herald11.13.2014

Calgary oil and gas consultant Kenny Adegbesan has a love of nature and the west coast. Buying a condo at the The Watermark in Sechelt satisfied him on both counts. Wil Andruschak/Calgary Herald photoWil Andruschak
/ Wil Andruschak

With concrete construction and a unique raft-slab, earthquake-proof foundation, The Watermark is quiet and soundly built. Courtesy, Watermark at Sechelt.

Kitchen in the beachfront cottage palette in Watermark at Sechelt. Photo taken on the boulevard in front of the building site. Courtesy, Watermark at Sechelt.

The kitchen and great room area in the beachfront cottage palette in Watermark at Sechelt offers a breathtaking view. Each building at The Watermark is 70 per cent glass. Courtesy, Watermark at Sechelt.

The beach and walking path in front of the Watermark at Sechelt offer myriad opportunities for outdoor recreation and fun. Courtesy, Watermark at Sechelt.

Kenny Adegbesan loves the B.C. coast. As a man who loves outdoor recreation and good weather to enjoy it in, he plans on spending as much time there as he can, once he can get away from running his oil and gas consulting company.

To that end, he purchased a small condo with an ocean view in White Rock, just south of Vancouver.

While vacationing a few years ago in Sechelt, just north of Vancouver on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, Adegbesan saw advertising for The Watermark at Sechelt, a midrise condo complex that was right on the oceanfront. Excited, Adegbesan called immediately.

“I called and said ‘I wanted a penthouse,’” says Adegbesan, a very enthusiastic man. “A penthouse or nothing!”

Wanting an unobstructed view of the ocean, he didn’t pursue it further. That is, until this year, when he thought he’d see what was new at The Watermark.

“I went and asked if there was a penthouse for sale and they said no, but we have a place on the fourth floor,” he says. Skeptical but curious, he took a look with the director of sales for The Watermark, John McKenzie, a realtor originally from Calgary.

“Well, I was blown away. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the penthouse, or the fifth floor or the fourth floor. Every view is the same. It’s so beautiful. A wide, ocean view. Nothing in front of you. So, I told myself, I’m buying this,” he says.

Apart from the stunning views from the living room, kitchen and the master bedroom, Adegbesan loves his deck.

He arrived in Canada 40 years ago, earning his PhD in chemical engineering and building his Calgary-based company, Kade Technologies. Adegbesan and his longtime girlfriend hope to slow down from work in the next three to four years, and enjoy a peaceful yet active lifestyle on the west coast where the weather is better.

“I will rent it out until I can free myself from work,” says Adegbesan.

Both buildings and mixed use bays on the ground level that form The Watermark at Sechelt are now complete. Of the 104 units, 16 are left for sale, each move-in ready with appliances and window coverings. Suites range from one-bedroom, 585-square-foot units to two-bedroom, 1,656-square-foot homes, Prices start at $404,900 plus tax. There are a limited number of three-bedroom suites, as well. Condo fees, which include natural gas, are 17 cents per square foot.

McKenzie says that because each building was constructed on an angle, 95 per cent of the units have ocean views.

Each building is six storeys, making them the highest buildings in Sechelt, population 10,000.

With “gold standard” concrete construction and a unique raft-slab, earthquake-proof foundation, The Watermark is quiet and soundly built. Because each building is 70 per cent glass, the builder used a curtain wall system, a heavy duty cladding to withstand the elements.

In addition to underground parking, there is guest and visitor parking, storage for kayaks, bikes, a workshop/hobby room and an owner’s lounge.

“We also have scooter parking. We are flush to the street — it’s a very level town and very easy for seniors to get around,” says McKenzie.

“People are really happy living here. We’re right on the seawall, with a nice beach out front and we’re right in the heart of town. It’s a healthy lifestyle. More walking, less driving,” he notes, adding that Sechelt enjoys a third less annual rainfall than parts of Vancouver.

“There’s year-round golf here, with at least two or three courses open 12 months a year. It’s widely known here that with our weather and our location, you can go golfing in the morning, and snowmobiling in the afternoon,” he jokes.

Sechelt is accessible by float plane or by ferry from Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver.

“You can get on a WestJet flight from Calgary at 7 a.m. and you’ll be having breakfast by 9:30 a.m. B.C. time,” says McKenzie.

About that penthouse that Kenny Adegbesan missed out on. One of the penthouses in The Watermark at Sechelt has been the unit to change hands since the building opened in July 2013, purchased new for $1.19 million and sold about five months later for $1.46 million.

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